ManorNewTechHigh School has plenty of bragging rights, including
a recent visit from President Barack Obama. But
a key statistic that Principal Steve Zipkes brags about is the school’s
96 percent attendance rate — proof that the students want to be there.

“Our
kids want to come to school,” Zipkes said. “I have to kick them out. I know
it sounds funny, but I’m serious; I have to run a 5 p.m. bus, or they won’t go home.”

Zipkes,
who was asked by the White House to participate in a work group on high
school redesign, will be one of the panelists at this week’s U.S. News STEM Solutions national conference in Austin. STEM, which stands for
science, technology, engineering and mathematics, is a national education
push to better equip the workforce for the rising number of jobs that require
skills in those fields.

Manor
New Tech is a model for project-based learning — using hands-on collaborative
projects to teach core subjects, with a heavy emphasis on technology. Zipkes
will serve on a panel discussing lessons traditional high schools can draw
from schools like Manor New Tech.

Here’s
an edited transcript of our interview with Zipkes.

Statesman:
What did the president’s visit mean to the school? What was it like behind
the scenes?

Zipkes: Everyone was all pumped up. I was
in the building just waiting. Everything had been orchestrated a week and
a half in advance.

He
went through two classrooms that had three or four different projects in
each classroom. I don’t know what I expected, but you know what? He was
engaged. He was listening to what students had to say; he was asking them
relevant questions. It wasn’t just like a photo op.

You
could tell he really was serious and interested in what was happening in
the school and how the students were working on these projects. It was refreshing.

How
did your visit to the White House come about?

I
found out when I went up there that (Obama) was very impressed with the
school and the way our students were learning. That we were doing things
differently and we were making connections with students, and it wasn’t
just a gimmick school or a specialized school that couldn’t happen anywhere.
This is something that could be transformed across many, many schools across
the country. Really what it was about is we are going to be an ongoing work
group, focusing on high school redesign with the incorporation of business
partners, community colleges and high school. What does that redesign look
like and what can this group do to make national change? I am excited and
honored and humbled to be included in this group. When I looked around and
read everyone’s bio, I thought, what am I doing here?

How
has STEM affected public education?

When
we started the school seven years ago … we didn’t say to students, “Come
over here; we’re going to teach you more math and science.” We promoted
to students, “We’re going to teach you in a different way. You’re going
to get hands on; you’re going to work in projects; you’re going to work
together. And we’re going to integrate technology.” It was about getting
kids over here.

That’s
what we’re seeing nationally. It’s not about offering kids more math and
science classes. It’s about how to make those math and science classes authentic,
relevant. It’s about bringing more students into STEM rather than just taking the top students
we already have and giving them STEM.

How
do you teach writing skills and reading comprehension in the STEM-heavy curriculum at Manor New Tech
High?

I’ve
always stated that STEM is not about math, science, technology and engineering — that’s
your invisible focus. It’s really about getting your students prepared for
21st-century skills. Can you communicate? Can you collaborate? Can you problem-solve?
Do you have a strong work ethic? Do you know how to do research? They need
those skills. Those skills will get them in as technicians,
will get them into the STEM fields.

To
me, STEM is about teaching 21st-century skills
every day in every content. It’s about integration
of content. You cannot sit and lecture kids.

How
would Manor New Tech be different if you were to launch it now instead of
seven years ago?

This
is the first time in education’s history that education has changed because
of technology, not because education wants to change. When we started, our
one-to-one meant students could go into the classroom and access technology.
We had iMacs and we had PCs. If we opened now, I’d look more at blended
learning – anytime, anyplace, anywhere learning with mobile devices. If
I had any work stations, they would be power sources for students to be
able to go in and do some kind of final cut or something else. I’m not talking
about homework. I’m talking about authentic, meaningful work outside of
the classroom that students would enjoy working on with their mobile device.

I
would start working with businesses more. Give me more authentic problems,
so when I create a real project with a real problem, students know they’re
working on something that’s meaningful and that someone from that corporation
will be on that panel evaluating those projects. So students see there are
meanings behind the projects; they’re not just made up or pulled out of
some library or textbook.

Is
there anything else you would like to add?

Enough
is enough. How long are you going to let students fail?

Are
we going to sit there and continue to lecture to our students or are our
teachers going to have to find new ways to deliver instruction? Does it
take more work? Yes, it does. But look at the rewards you get out of it.
You get the autonomy to create your content and how you deliver that instruction.
And your students become more engaged.